Background: I have an acquaintance and my dog in the car. We're driving, and it's about 30 degrees outside. She turns to me(the acquaintance, not the dog) and says "Shouldn't you have a window open for the dog?" I said "No, it's cold outside." I was kind of shocked that she would even ask this. Have we beaten it into people's heads about summer time and parked cars and dogs that now people think a window has to be open at all times, or the dog will suffocate?

So, I think this is crazy, and therefore mention it to a fellow dog-owner. His response when asked if a window has to be open at all times: "Well, yeah." Seriously? Do dogs have some abnormal lung setup that can only function with a window down? On all those multi-hour roadtrips to take her hiking, was she actually laying down and being quiet because she was on the brink of death? I mean, this is absurd, right?

My response would be, "Do humans need a window cracked at all times?" I'm pretty sure what kills dogs in the summer is the heat inside the car without proper ventilation, not a lack of oxygen. I might be wrong, but I'm pretty sure you can't completely seal a car anyway, at least newer models. I know my car still brings a small amount of air through the vents, even when the AC/Heater is off.

Whenever I take my dog to my parents during the winter, it's 45 minutes in the truck. Windows up the entire time. By that logic, both he and I should be dead from asphyxiation.

EDIT: Actually, this might be a good question for /r/askscience. What actually kills people and animals when they are locked in a car during the summer? It's been a long time since my biology courses, but I think it has something to do with the heat causing certain proteins in our body to break apart. Obviously, they could provide a much more detailed and accurate answer :)

I only said anything because I was blown away that two out of two people thought this was true. Sure, that's not a big enough sample group, but I didn't think I hung out with such morons.

On a related note: I got screamed at by some lady in the grocery store parking lot for leaving my dog in the car with the engine running and a/c on. "It is too hot to leave that dog in the car!" "The engine's running, and a/c is on" And, that wasn't enough for her. She kept screaming that it was too hot, until I just walked away.

I had the same thing happen over the summer. I had my dogs with me and stopped at a benefit for a breed rescue group on my way home to make a donation. It was so hot that it would have been cruel to take them out of the car and walk them across the hot asphalt into the store so I took the remote off the keychain (so I would have access in case they leaned on the mechanism and locked themselves in the car) and left the dogs in the car with the engine and a/c on. The people running the benefit were horrified and would not shut up about leaving my dogs in the car. They did, by the way, have their dogs out on the hot cement, which I found equally horrible. I got so many evil glares and angry comments that I finally left without making my donation.

I understand not leaving your dog alone in a running vehicle for hours and I probably wouldn't have done it if the car would have been out of sight at any point, but it really shouldn't have been that kind of issue. I think people just hear "dogs die in cars" and get angry without really thinking it through.

I do the same, I have two sets of keys and will leave the car running with the A/C on. I haven't been yelled at, but boy am I scared shitless when I am running my errand that I'll come back with someone having had smashed my windows in to "rescue" my dog. I try to run in and out as fast as I possibly can if I couldn't have avoided the stop in the first place. But, alas, I guess that's what happens when you bring your dog everywhere instead of leaving her home alone all the time.

In non-summer months I get scared someone will steal my dog. I've since gotten a GPS tracker. heh.

I do the same thing with the keys. The only time I do it is when I'm already out and about, and realize I need to grab something real quick at the store. Where I live, there is the main town. Then, there's the west side. The west side, where I live, is all farms. If I stop on that side of town, the only comments I get are about how my dog is pretty. If I stop in the main town, where all the money and yuppies are, all I get are stares and rude comments.

I'm not worried about people trying to steal my dog. I just assume that enough people have pitbull fear that they won't get close enough to realize that all they're going to get is licked.

I saw a thread on reddit a while ago where some guy posted a picture of his dog in the car (from the outside). He had taped a sign to the window that said something like "The engine is running and the A/C is on, no need to worry, it's nice and cool in here!". I'm definitely going to be doing that this summer.

In my state (South Carolina) it is illegal to leave your car running and unattended, and it is also illegal to leave a dog in a vehicle unattended, regardless of outside temperature, so I'm screwed either way.

HAH. I'd ask your acquaintance if she wanted to stick HER head out of the window of a moving vehicle in 30ºF weather. If her answer is "hell no" then why would the dog want to stick it's head outside? lol.

My dog has figured out where she needs to step to hit the button that makes the window go down. She does this when it's 20 degrees out, has her head out the window for a minute or two, and then gives me a look like "Would you close the damn window? It's freezing in here!" So I close the window, and the process repeats itself two or three times before I just put the child lock on.

Yeah, that's absolutely crazy. Here is a chart demonstrating how cracking a window in the summer drastically decreases the temp inside of the car. The dog suffers from heat stroke in these situations, not suffocation. Your dog owner friend must've suffered some pretty cold car rides!

Here is a chart demonstrating how cracking a window in the summer drastically decreases the temp inside of the car.

This article seems to arrive at a different conclusion than you do. At the bottom, they write "Other studies show similar results:" and in those three linked studies are clear statements regarding cracked windows and summer heat (I quote in the order of the links):

“Cracking” the windows had little effect

Attempts to add an element of safety "cracking" the windows enough to let in air but keep others out were demonstrated to be ineffective.

Yea, I'll admit I didn't look at it very closely, and I suppose I misinterpreted their poorly labelled columns. Either way, it demonstrates how ridiculous hot it gets in a car, which is basically the point I wanted to make.

Heh.
We do leave the window open year round, except when it's blizzarding because our NewfieX loves sticking his head out the window.
I just turn the heat up and wear gloves and look in the side mirror to see his goofy adorable face making an expression of supreme happiness.

Letting your dog stick its head out the window can be very dangerous to it, and lead to eye problems later in life. Not to mention it can be blinded by dust or items being kicked up from other drivers. Be careful.

My boyfriend is very nervous about sleeping in cars. If I suggested it he always got freaked out. His concern is mainly carbon monoxide, and one time, I suggested sleeping in the car while camping and he insisted the windows be cracked.

By saying that while driving, there is no air coming in is kind of silly. Car vents bring in fresh air that constantly circulates the cabin. The problem is, when the car is sealed.

edit: Also, I don't know how long you leave the dog in the car? My dogs go apeshit if they're left for more than 10-15 minutes. We take them for car rides only if we go for a drive thru or to the corner store. My boyfriend and I couldn't leave his dog in the car, so someone was always in there with her.

If carbon monoxide would be a big issue with parked cars, parking garages would often be deadly traps.

I slept countless times in cars when I was young, often together with others. And if it was cold, the windows were closed all night long. Sometimes even in summer because of parking in bad neighbourhoods. There is enough air coming in (cars do sink in water)

Just don't leave the engine running. Use blankets/sleeping bags.

My dog has stayed up to 2 hours in the car, if temperatures were guarantueed in the comfortzone. He has his little cave in the back where he cuddles up, so our car is basically an extension from our home. He goes straight to sleep. I do leave a couple of windows cracked open for him, but not that I worry he might suffocate otherwise. Fresh air is just a little comfort thing.

If it's cool temperatures and in the shade the dog could (if used to being in a car alone) stay in a car as long as they can in a house or any confined area.

Also, you have to train dogs not to go apeshit when you're not there. Just about all dogs carry on, whine, bark etc when alone and don't deal well with being alone unless they're trained to handle it.

Pretend to leave (or have them tied up on a rope out of sight), when they start whining and carrying come back (temporarily) to discipline them, and never reward it with attention (or a real return). It's much better for the dogs because when they learn they chill out and go to sleep instead of fretting.

When people remark on my dog patiently and quietly lying down on the pavement outside a shop while I am in there after I tell her to 'stay' they seem to think it's all down to her being a 'great dog', but it's just a case of putting the effort into training.

My Lollie (Lab/Collie cross) would like the window open at all times, even in -20 weather here in the Great White North. The thing is, I have opposable thumbs and she doesn't, so the window stays up. She's 14, has spent hundreds of hours in the car over long family trips, and doesn't seem to be showing any signs of asphyxia.

That is crazy. My dog wants the window open so he can poke his head out at when he wants. If it is too cold I will tell him "Hell No!" when he is wanting the window open. Open window at 7am in 15 degree weather? Yeah right.

i have one dog who loves the window being down. the other hates it and will stare at me with indignation if i roll it down at all. he also rides in the seat with his head back and eyes forward like a person.

Honestly, I can't tell if you are being sarcastic. To clarify, "fresh air" means air not tainted by dog smell. I frequently cracked my window when driving with my ex's dog because of the smell. I didn't beat around the bush even in the middle of winter....especially in the middle of winter, I was just dying from the breathe smell.

One situation where I see it helpful to keep a window cracked even if it's a cold outside is if it's really sunny. Yesterday after I got done taking my dog on an hour long walk I opened my car door and it was pretty warm inside. Not suffocatingly so, but probably still a bit uncomfortable to sit in for awhile. It was 40 degrees outside, so not freezing, but not warm either. As it gets lower in temperature obviously even if it is sunny, the car will remain cold, but I thought I'd mention this situation anyway.

This is exactly what I came here to post! Thanks for saying it first. Even when it's 18 degrees up here, a good amount of sun on the car for a bit can make it uncomfortably warm. Most don't think about that particular instance.

My parents have had dogs as long as I have been alive (~23 years) and we have never had the windows open while driving with a dog in the car. In the summer we turn the A/C on and that seems to do it... the two dogs that have passed away have been from old age (15 and 12 respectively) and my parents black lab is still alive and drives in these conditions almost everyday.

But on the other hand, I think a lot of people would be surprised at the temperatures a car can reach on a sunny day of even mild temperatures. Obviously you don't need to have the window open while you're there in the car and the car is moving; you'll notice that it's warm, and you'll adjust accordingly. But leaving a pet in the car in the sun even when it's only 60F can be bad.

Is your acquaintance a dog person? It is possible that she was just trying to come up with a ruse to get a window down so she wouldn't have to smell dog. Even if your dog isn't that smelly a lot of people don't like riding in cars with dogs because they pant and/or drool or they think they're breathing in their hair or dander, etc.

I almost always crack the window when the dog is in the car, not so he can breathe, but just so he can entertain himself. I never once thought that dogs need windows down while driving for air.

When it's running you'll want it ventilated because of carbon minoxide and what not, but most newer vehicles are already equipped to handle that without rolling a window down. The vents are constantly recirculating air anyway.